pips please!

Happy Monday!

I know what you're thinking- she's crazy. I'm literally counting down the days until I drive to Caldwell for work on Thursday. I've never looked forward to work like this before and we've got a heavy load this week. I'm ecstatic to be starting something productive. I feel like I'm going stale sitting around the house so much!

This past weekend was the first in a month where we haven't had some sort of company at all. It was strange- we're almost used to having one or both sets of parents over and we didn't much know what to do with ourselves. We had to stay at the house on Saturday because Zach was first on-call so he had to be able to drop everything, throw on his doctor clothes and rush to the clinic if need be. Luckily- he only got an informational call and wasn't needed at the clinic so that was nice.

We had a wonderful Sunday. Poor Jethro had an accident... wait- those two sentences shouldn't come one after the other! Haha! If you know my poor boy, you know he hasn't pottied in the house since he was very, very young so we know it was an emergency and he couldn't help himself- but he was kind of a catalyst. We ran out of Incredible carpet cleaner the last time Shiner pottied in the house (I actually DO have two potty trained dogs- it's rare for this to happen!) and so when Zach went looking for some we didn't have any. So we made a trip to Pet-Co to get some and decided against going back to the house for a while. We got lunch, we saw A MOVIE...

Haha...it was very good. I was very happy- I am on a total comic book hero kick right now, so I was really pleased that the movie was well done. It was millions of years better than the first attempt at a Hulk film, and I love Edward Norton and Liv Tyler so they can do pretty much whatever and I'm happy. Robert Downey Jr. was in it, for a second, and that made me smile too. Also, since I haven't mentioned MMA for a while, there's a point in the film when Banner (Norton) is in Brazil and he's sitting with a Jiu Jitsu master and he's trying to learn how to control his breathing in order to slow his heart rate so that he doesn't 'turn.' Well, the 'master' he's sitting with is none other than Rickson Gracie (Pronouced Hickson), the son of Hélio Gracie, the man who is credited as the father of Mixed Martial Arts. We were so excited- of course I was quite impressed with myself that I even recognized him as a Gracie, but since I know of his brother Royce I guess it makes sense. We appreciated that detail, movie makers, we appreciated it! (Aside: Speaking of MMA fighters in movies, Gina Carano is going to be in the upcoming film Blood and Bone, along with a number of the other American Gladiators. I noticed a name I recognized in the cast-- the character Pinball in the movie is being played by none other than Dante Basco who played Rufio in Hook! THAT made my day. Friggin Rufioooo! Bangarang Rufio! I will say that when we go see that movie. That's another reason to go right there! ...back to the main thought...) After the movie, we went to the book store and then came back to let the dogs in- but I had set Zach's mind going and he was craving Ninfa's for dinner so we left them inside and headed out. All in all, we had a really relaxing, comfortable day.

Zach starts Equine Internal Medicine today- he is sad to leave Zoo Med behind. He has had so much fun, and I know he's happy that he's got another Zoo rotation. I think at first he wasn't excited about having to repeat rotations, but knowing it's Zoo that he gets to go back to has made him happy. So he's back to the Large Animal Clinic... he's got only two more rotations before he heads to his externship!

I'll be eager to get back to Sugar Land in August. I have to say, this is our first summer in College Station and I'm going to say I prefer summers a little bit closer to the coast. Do you know this is the farthest away I've ever been from the coast since I was 4? I was born in Oklahoma which is pretty much the middle of the friggen continent, then I moved to Norway at age 4. I used to drive past the coast every day on my way to school. Then we moved to Sugar Land when I was 10 and then to Melbourne, Australia 2 1/2 years later. We could walk to Brighton Beach from our house. Then after a year and a half there, we moved to Perth, Australia, where I had a view of the Indian Ocean from the balcony of my house. Then back to Sugar Land. And now College Station. I must say, I miss the ocean. Wow- that was a jaunty little jog off topic! I guess it's just one more reason to start a "house-in-the-Bahamas (or Florida Keys or anywhere tropical)" fund as soon as we're able. I've already told Zach we'll have to figure something out. Poor guy.

Well, I'm afraid that's all I have for today. I think I'll just leave you with a picture that makes me smile. Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you...

The Pips


(or Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr.)